Calgary Defense Steps Up at Key Time

Assistant coach Bruce Codd and
the Calgary Bench take in the scene at Saturday's NLL Finals Game
1, which the Roughnecks won 10-7 over Rochester. (Brad
Watson)

When talk rolled around to assessing team defenses during the
regular season, it was all Edmonton this and Edmonton that, or
Rochester this and Rochester that. Calgary was so far down on the
goals-against chart that it rarely got a mention.

Now that the Roughnecks are one win away from hoisting the
Champion's Cup, however, captain Andrew McBride and the rest of the
back-end boys deserve accolades for their stellar playoff
performances, although it's not as if they've craved the attention
that has been going to Dane Dobbie, Curtis Dickson, Shawn Evans and
the rest of the offensive kingpins who've been hogging the
headlines.

''Absolutely not,'' replies assistant coach Bruce Codd when
asked if his D men were moping through their winter of being
ignored. ''We didn't always worry about the goals-against average.
We focused on a game-by-game basis and the need to always get one
more goal than the opposition.''

They got three more than the opposition last Saturday night,
winning Game 1 of the NLL final 10-7, and they can win the
franchise's third title if they beat the Knighthawks in Game 2 in
Rochester this Saturday night. If they succeed, McBride, 31, will
be the man accepting the trophy from commissioner George Daniel.
He's been with the team since its inception. He lives and breathes
lacrosse, conducting weekday instructional clinics and constantly
serving as a goodwill ambassador in Alberta for the sport that got
into his blood growing up in British Columbia and never left.

''Andrew is our leader,'' says Codd. ''He's such a positive guy,
and a guy who lays it on the line every night. He gives us
everything he has, and more, some nights. He's the elder statesman
on the back end with two Champion's Cup wins (2004 and 2009) to his
credit. He's the cagey old vet on the back end.''

Another standout defenseman for Calgary is Mike Carnegie. It is
hard to believe watching the seven-year vet from London, Ontario,
play that he was never drafted by an NLL team.

''I'm sure there's a lot of teams that look back and say, 'I
wish we'd drafted him,''' says Codd. ''He was an offensive player
in junior but now he's a top defender. He gets the tough checks
every single game. He picks up the other team's premier
player.''

Carnegie, 30, helped Canada win the world indoor championship in
2011 in Prague. He works weekdays as a survey analyst, which
includes taking layouts of future subdivisions and locating where
infrastructure should be placed. He's known for his charitable
endeavors including a jaunt to Uganda to help build a school.

Curtis Manning, 27, in his fifth year with the Roughnecks, is a
unique individual. Besides playing pro lacrosse, he's finishing his
University of British Columbia medical studies and soon will move
to Calgary to take up residency as a doctor at a new hospital in
Calgary. At six-foot-four, he's the tallest defenseman with the
Roughnecks. He might also be the smartest.

''His intelligence off the floor translates onto the floor,''
says Codd. ''He's a big strong guy and he's very athletic, very
physical on the floor. He'd be the kind of guy I wouldn't want to
play against.''

Manning also has worn Canada's colors internationally.

Peter McFetridge, who is just an inch shorter than Manning and
who is another West Coast member of the Roughnecks, missed the
first eight weeks of the schedule after being injured in a
pre-season game.

''He had a ruptured ulcer but he's been back for a while now
since his surgery,'' says Codd. ''Peter is an energy guy, a big
strong guy.''

He's 28 and in his seventh NLL season. Outside lacrosse, he's
been a bartender and has been adding to his educational credits.
Maybe it's a coincidence, but the team GAA went down after
McFetridge returned to the lineup. He wears 80 on his back in honor
of a grandfather who passed away at age 80.

Two of the most ferocious checkers on Calgary's back end are
brothers Jon Harnett, turning 26 on Wednesday, and Greg Harnett,
23, who grew up with lacrosse sticks in their hands in Orangeville,
Ontario, where they were Northmen teammates winning Canadian junior
championships in 2008 and 2009. More recently, they've been taking
university courses as well as suiting up for the 'Necks.

''Jon is a real student of the game,'' says Codd. ''He thinks
the game at a very high level. He understands other teams' and
players' tendencies. He prepares very well. He's another guy that
will do anything it takes to win. He really wants to win. If you
look at his track record, it kind of speaks to that.''

His brother plays with similar grit.

''Greg is a warrior. He'd do anything for any one of his
teammates. He's not afraid to stick his nose in there. If it means
him taking a whack to get a loose ball, he'll take it. He has a
great compete level.''

Dan MacRae is in his fourth NLL season but plays as if he's been
around for a decade. Outside lacrosse, he's been a warehouse
manager.

''He's had a great year,'' says Codd. ''He's chipped in a lot in
a transition role, too. He eats up a lot of minutes and gets a lot
of tough checks. He really came into his own this year. He goes
about his business and plays hard.''

MacRae, 25, from Oakville, Ontario, is also a good penalty
killer and is one of the defensemen sent out in the dying minutes
when games are on the line.

With vet Geoff Snider out since early May with a knee injury,
the coaches have relied on rookie Garrett McIntosh, 23, and
third-year man Travis Cornwall, 24, to pick up the slack on
defense.

''You never know what you're going to get in the third round,''
Codd says of McIntosh's 2013 entry draft status. ''You hope you get
a guy who can step in and play 10 or 11 games, but Mac has played
every single game for us. He's an energy guy. He's a big strong guy
who works really hard. He's been a nice surprise for us.''

McIntosh has been taking most of the faceoffs in Snider's
absence. The two British Columbia-trained players have added some
muscle. The 6-3 McIntosh is an account manager for Xerox and the
6-2 Cornwall has been helping McBride and Snider with youth
lacrosse clinics while planning to go to teachers' college.

''Travis is another guy who has come into his own this year,''
says Codd. ''He's been in a transitional role throughout his
career. He's an athletic player who competes hard. He was almost
too nice his first year and now he's got grittier. He's developed
more of a mean streak. He's a very intelligent player.''

(Trivia: McIntosh and Cornwall were on the 2010 Coquitlam,
British Columbia, team that won the Canadian junior championship,
denying Greg Harnett a Minto Cup threepeat with the Northmen.)

The only Calgary defensemen with NCAA credentials are MacRae,
who attended Rochester Institute of Technology, and McIntosh, who
went to Drexel.

The new and improved Calgary defense continues to evolve.

''Our system has been the same most of the season although we've
made some tweaks along the way,'' says Codd. ''Towards end of year
we got better. We still think we can play better, too. Guys are
believing in one another and supporting one another. That's
probably the reason for the improved play.''

So, that's the rundown on a defense corps that deserves some
recognition, as does goaltender Mike Poulin, 28, from Kitchener,
Ontario, whose spring heroics have helped boost the entire team's
confidence.

''Mike has worked really hard on a lot of things in his game,''
says Codd. ''A lot of it is studying shooters and preparing each
week for who we play.

''Mike has been dialed in, especially in the playoffs. He seems
to be seeing the ball well. Part of that is his work ethic, and his
confidence has been building with some good games. His improved
played is also the result of some of the improvement in overall
team defensive play.''